Minutes Past, Present, and Past Again
by TheUnmitigatedSceptic
Summary: Sirius just doesn't get it. Bella has only one thing on her mind.
1. Chapter 1

This wasn't easy for him. Sirius found that torture did not come naturally as it did to most of his family. It took mental and physical fortitude of an unusual nature. The act now weighed heavily upon his limbs and conscience. Ignoring the scattered screams of your childhood playmate is not something anyone expects to find himself doing.

Bella stood leaning against the wall, held up only by the manacles at her wrists. The light in her eyes was distant and fast fading. Even for one accustomed to random torture sessions at the hands of their lunatic leader, six nonstop hours was getting to be a bit much. He gave her another half hour of consciousness at best.

With her trapped as she was, he had all the time in the world. Upon entering this room, he had intended to use it to his full advantage. He had taken his time coming to this moment. Gotten it just the way he wanted. Hours had been devoted to the planning. He would grind his cousin into powder. When he had finished, there would be nothing left. She would finally feel the abandonment of all hope. That point was now almost upon them. For the barest second, he allowed himself to relax. A grievous mistake.

The curiosity that had been wrenching at his self control this entire time broke loose of his hold and demanded satiation.

He crossed the perhaps seven feet separating him from Bella with a relative slowness of gate. When he stopped, he was at a distance that would have brought them nose to nose had her head not been slumped slightly forward and to his left.

In response to the sudden proximity, his brain brought forward a long stuffed away memory. A ball; he was nearly twenty. He had quietly sneaked into the airy mansion of his childhood summers to see, for one last time, the girl who wouldn't leave his head.

He had found her and they had laughed and danced as of old. She seemed to be glowing and the sparkle in her eyes matched that of the brilliant new adornment on her ring finger. For Bella, life was about to begin. At that moment, his had seemed to be drawing rapidly to a close.

They had ended up, panting from the exertion of dancing, on a small moonlit balcony overlooking the copious roses and fountains that filled the mansion's gardens and the night air with a softness befitting evening's mood.

He took her hand and, with a slight jerk of his head towards the front gate, invited her to follow him to his new life in the attic apartment with leaking chimneys where he'd found not only meaning but, for the first time, a sense of power over his own fate.

For a long moment she stared straight into his eyes and then shook her head, ever so softly, with her eyebrows pushing together in the middle. She planted a soft kiss on his cheek and slipped back inside. Her hand grazed the other cheek, bringing it toward her as she left.

The memory fled as quickly as she had and he found himself leaning up against the woman that girl had become, hands resting on the wall at either side of her head. As distasteful as the position was, he found it conveyed the correct sense of tense urgency in which his next question ought to be delivered.

"Do you regret it?" He whispered hoarsely in her ear. Bella took in a tremulous breath.

"There is, in life, a moment, a decision, that everyone is forced to make. It sets them on the path they will follow for the rest of their days. You were there when I made mine. I must walk my path, wherever it leads" She answered, echoing his delivery.

"Then you do." A statement. "Why did you never correct it?"

"I wasnt even brave enough to follow you, much less forge a path of my own." She laughed mirthlessly. Her head was still pointed away from him. Sirius took her chin and forced her to look him in the eye. His eyes took on a new intensity as he abandoned his original end in favour of a half crazed new one.

"You still could." he said, taking care to let every word sink in. Bella's eyes widened, first in disbelief and then terror.

"Oh, no. You're going to end this cleanly. The fun is over and you've got the answer you were looking for." She paused to ascertain the effect of her words and, seeing none, went on " I've followed my path and intend to keep doing so. There will be no changing of hearts at the last moment. No teary reconciliations or prodigal returns. You're the hero. This is the part where you slay the villain and return to your loved ones."

Sirius continued to look dumbly into her eyes for another second before answering "They're right here." Bella looked even more frightened and continued to plead her case.

"What about Harry? Remus? I'm sure they'd forgive a lot but not welcoming a former Death Eater, who also happens to be your killer, into the fold."

Sirius gave a laugh and grabbed her face, causing her to simultaneously wince and push her head as far back into the wall as possible."But, darling," He gave her lips a quick peck "they don't even know I'm alive. I'd intended to deal with you and then go break the happy news of your death along with that of my return."

"What's to stop you from doing that right now?" Her voice was low and urgent. He both laughed and kissed her again before declaring.

"That was before I realized I'm still in love with you!"

"No, damnit!" Bella growled. "I want to die! You are going to stop this nonsense right this minute and send me on to heaven or hell. I don't care which!." She was cut short by the sudden weight her legs were forced to bear after the manacles disappeared. It proved to be too much for her weakened state and she collapsed, unconscious.

A grin spread over Sirius' face as he set about tending to the small injuries he had caused her person and laying plans for obtaining the aid he would need to deal with the larger ones.


	2. The Before

The room looked just as it had the last time he'd been in it. He picked himself quickly up off the floor, cursing himself for letting his guard down. The damn woman was like a cat. It wasn't a good idea to tease her unless you craved a cruel, swift punishment. His head hurt but, thankfully, wasn't spinning.

To his knowlege, about thirty seconds ago, he had fallen through the veil of mist that was now a few feet behind him. The myriad people who had filled the room seemed to have vanished in that short space of time. Sirius listened a moment and heard nothing of them either. How a good twenty or so enemies had come together to the decision of leaving in such a startlingly efficient manner he hadn't a clue. It was downright inconsiderate to leave a fellow like that. They'd even gathered up the fallen Tonks and petrified Dolohov and taken them along.

The only sign of recent human activity was a piece of paper, blowing in the soft breeze of the veil. It circled around near his feet. Cautiously, he stepped forward and placed the toe of his shoe upon the errant scrap. The side facing him when he picked it up was disappointingly blank. He turned it over. The other side held seven words in tiny, neat cursive. "Had to go. The park, 9pm. - BabyDoll"

This only served to confuse him further. Only minutes ago, Bellatrix had been hell bent on killing him. Now everyone had vanished and she wanted to meet up. Presumably to talk. The use of the old facetious nickname he'd given her as a way to rub in her father's complete lack of regard for her enormous intelligence was as strange as the rest of the situation. Someone in the room would have had to see her scribble the note so what point was there in concealing her identity?

Shaking his head, Sirius suddenly remembered that he was a highly sought after criminal and decided to beat a hasty retreat.

Two hours later he sat on a tall stool in his favourite muggle bar. It had a pleasant old world atmosphere that lent to the tender nursing of thought and drink. He had busied himself doing just that for the last half hour. No matter which way he turned it in his mind, the whole business refused to make sense.

HIs thoughts wandered back to being pleasantly interrupted by a pretty young lady for about five minutes near the start of his visit. She'd come out of the back and stopped to get his opinion on wether or not she'd need a coat for her dinner date. It had been "So bloody hot all summer" she'd been toying with the idea of leaving without one. He'd advised her to leave it off. Her date would thank him. Covering that dress would have been a damn shame.

He took another sip of his drink and nearly spit it out. All summer. She'd said _all summer_. He got up and ran outside to the small magazine stand that rested not fifteen feet outside the bar. The old man tending it looked up, startled, as he approached.

"Have you anything with the date on it?" Sirius asked. The old fellow moved so slowly it seemed almost deliberate. Once he'd rifled through three stacks one page at a time, he removed one leaflet at the pace of a watched pot.

"That'll be..." "Oh i only want to glance at the cover." Sirius assured him. He did just that and had he been drinking would have actually spit this time. The date read August twelfth. August. Nearly two months.

He thanked the old man in a rather weak tone and wobbled back to his seat at the bar counter. After a few minutes during which he calmed himself, he checked the large clock that sat over a large stone fireplace at the other end of the room. It read 7:42. His meeting with Bella, should he choose to attend, was set for about about an hour from the current time.

At this point only two courses of action were really sound ideas. He could forget his crazy cousin and go reunite with the no doubt mourning members of his order or keep the appointment he'd never agreed to. The latter was ill advised but would likely bring a fuller version of the missing months to light.

As he left, the bar his feet carried him towards the grassy fields and broken swings that hosted many of his wild childhood romps. Situated two blocks from Grimmauld Place, it served as the perfect asylum for a child fleeing the wrath of parents who held the notion that children are tiny adults and should act accordingly.

Bella sat on the largest bone of contention between Regulus and him during their early years, the only intact swing in the place. Her feet barely brushed the ground. Hands folded and head turned towards them, she looked almost childlike. Sirius was sickened by the thought. A monster such as that should never be allowed to bear resemblance to embodyments of innocence.

He stalked up cautiously, hand on the wand in his pocket, and conscious of the fact that, as it was not really his, he would be at a grave disadvantage in any fight.

Bella didn't look up until he was standing nearly over her. A faint smile flicked at the left corner of her mouth.

"You look awefully good for a dead man." she said and continued half smiling up at him. Sirius rolled his eyes and got down to business.

"What do you want, Bella?" She pushed her eyebrows together and puffed her mouth into a slight mou. He went around behind the swing and began pushing her.

"That depends on you, dear boy. Shall I first explain what happened post ministry battle?"

"Please."

"There we were. Fighting. Wind in our hair. Thirsting for the glorious rush of taking a life."

"If you go on like that we'll be here all night." He interrupted. Bella sighed and continued

"Well, I knocked you through the veil and, naturally, the Potter brat started screaming. At first, I was going to fish you right back out again but then I had a thought. If I let everyone think you were dead for a few months you'd be quite free once you came back out. That is, if you do what I want. You can work for us and have safety, money, and security or refuse and be outed to the ministry. You'll be hunted by both us and them and end up dead within a week. I'd rather that didn't happen. The Black family could use an heir and you're the only one left who could provide a true one. Once we have what we want you could be free to move on happily with your life. No Death Eater would ever bother you again."

"I hope you're not serious." He said

"No, darling, that's you." Sirius rolled his eyes again.

"The point is that I'm not going to play your game." Bella jumped off at the front of her swing and sighed.

"They've really done a number on you, haven't they." She brushed imaginary dust from her impeccable skirts "I'll bring roses to your funeral." and started walking away.

Sirius stood there a moment, anger was surging through every vein in his body. How dare she think such a ridiculous ultimatum would override his sense of right. Frankly, it was insulting. Every second made it harder and harder not to go after her. He wanted to hurt her. To crucio that smug look of control from her still perfect visage.

He started counting slowly in his head.

One, two three, four...

Losing control, Sirius fired a stunner at his cousin's retreating back. She fell in a graceful arc to the ground.

Eighteen minutes later he was propping an unconscious Bellatrix up agaisnt the wall in his Uncle Alphard's basement and fixing manacles to her wrists. He stepped back to study the affect, wiped his hands together to get rid of the dust, and went upstairs to rest and ponder his next move.


	3. Things get towards getting going

When Bella woke she could feel a chest doing some heavy breathing against her head. She raised said head slowly. It felt heavy. By turning it just slightly to the right and flicking her eyes upward she found she could avoid most of the pain and see that the chest she was leaning on belonged to the cousin who'd spent most of the either today or yesterday, she wasn't sure how much time had passed, torturing her with great gusto.

Sirius appeared to be asleep. Moving about, Bella attempted to guage the extent of her injuries. Had they been any fewer, she would have gritted her teeth and gotten the hell out but, as it was, the smart thing seemed to be to stay put.

After a little while she pushed her face against Sirius to block out the light filtering through the large window by which they sat and went back to sleep. Before she drifted off, Bella noticed that she was clothed in only her knickers and a large dress shirt. She wondered vaugely for a moment where her things had gone.

He was gone a when she woke again. Thrist drove her out of bed and to the kitchen where she was none too thrilled to find the missing Sirius. He looked up as she entered and gave her an ingratiating smile.

"Glad you're up and about. There's coffee in the pot and eggs and hash in the pan." he said. Bella reached into her pocket for her wand only to remember it wouldn't be there even if she was wearing her own clothes. Instead she stalked stiffly over to the hot coffee pot and threw the contents at her cousin's back. He howled and danced about the kitchen for a few seconds while she leaned on the counter and laughed as much as she could with a bruised and quite possibly broken set of ribs.

After Sirius had changed his shirt and they'd served up breakfast in silence, they ended up seated at the breakfast table munching away. Bella kept shooting him dirty looks over her plate. The house elf, that had been freed but simply refused to leave, walked in with the daily prophet and handed it to her master. He glanced at the headline. A disoncerted frown spread slowly over his face.

"Hogwarts potion master, Severus Snape, steals last ministry time turner, then disappears." He read aloud. "It was discovered this morning that the only remaining time turner in ministry possesion had been stolen from its resting place in the department of mysteries. Severus Snape was seen by a witness entering the minitry through the employee entrance at around four in the morning." He stopped and looked up at Bella.

"Seems poor Sevvy won't be getting his job back come fall. Not that he needs it, anyway." Bellatrix laughed at her private joke. Laying the paper aside, Sirius folded his hands and sent her a pointed "explain" look. She rolled her eyes and ostentatiously took a sip of coffee.

"Bella, what does slimeball want with a time turner?" said Siri. Bella snorted and nearly choked. After recovering, she peered over the rim of her beaker and asked.

"How badly do you want to know?" Siri sighed and countered.

"What do you want?"

"For starters, though it's unspoken, I am a prisoner here. Wandless. Without proper clothes. I'd probably be very happy to have those things restored to me and it might even make me grateful enough to let you in on which one of your friends is in imminant danger." She smiled and started talking to herself. "Oops, shouldn't have said that. Now he'll be painfully curious." Sirius reached into his pocket after staring at Bella for a long moment. He pulled forth her wand and set it on the table.

"Your clothes are hanging up in the bathroom. They're freshly washed. The front door is open. You're free to leave at any time." He finished speaking and looked at her expectantly. Bella picked her wand up off the table and rose slowly. She disappeared into the loo and came out a while later, fully clothed. Siri was still sitting at the table. She took her time getting back over to it and taking her seat.

"Nearly a week ago now, I had a conversation with a very jumpy little Snape. He had just heard offhand from Lucius that the ministry had kept one time turner for their personal use when they destroyed all the others after Harry's escapades following your escape. He was quite proud of his plans to steal it. Figured the whole thing out himsef, bless his heart. You know he's never really gotten over Lily. It might even be understandable if she hadn't been a mudblood." Sirius' face twitched at this. "James was always the problem. Baby Sevvy never really stood a chance while he was around. He plans, therefore, to take him out of the equation." She took another sip and looked up, smiling with affected innocence.

The table shook as Sirius pounded his fist into it. Bella didn't even flinch. The floor went the same way as the table as Sirius began to pace up and down the kitchen. Bella got up, went over to the hook where his coat was hanging, and searched through the pockets until she laid hold of the pack of cigarettes that had a permanant residence there. She shook one out and started it with its neighbor, the lighter. A smile of contentment washed over her face as she closed her eyes and took a drag.

As Bella pulled herself out of her momentary reverie she mused. "I wonder what someone in your position would do for a timeturner." In a second, Sirius was upon her and pulling the smoking paper from her hand. He uttered only one word.

"Where?" She smiled peacefully up a him and slwly plucked the cigarette back out of his hand.

"The family vault. We've had one for centuries. Unfortunatly, dear cuz," she poked his nose "you don't have access." She went on smiling and smoking while Sirius walked, quite calmly, over to a counter full of dirty dishes and swept them off in one movement of his long arm. Bella closed her eyes, looking slightly pained. He returned to her side.

"Bella, how much is it worth to you not to be killed by your master upon your return?"

"Why would he do that, dear? I am, after all, his favourite."

"He might be just a tad upset if he found out that his whor-sorry 'favourite' helps bloods traitors on the side." He smiled down at a silent Bellatrix. Making sure he was close enough for her to feel his hot breath. "Andromeda has much to thank you for regarding her successful escape and freedom from financial troubles over the years. You hang about my house a great deal too. In fact, I would say you're a great deal _friendlier_ with me than anyone who disapproves of blood traitors ever ought to be." Bella slid out from under him and went back to the table.

"Aright. You can have the damn time turner. But that's it! We don't see eachother at all. Whoever kills the other first gets the money, satisfaction, and bragging rights." She said in a flat sort of tone.

"You" He crossed the room to the table and and sat down. "Will hand over the time turner and help me secure the safety of one James Potter. True, you'll never catch back up and we'll have to go into hiding but you won't be brutally tortured and killed by a wrathful Dark Lord. With the added onus of him never discovering what a little blood traitor loving weakling you are." She looked at him long and spoke slowly.

"I get to say goodbye to Cissa."

"Fine. Deal?"

"Deal."


End file.
